Machine



Dec. 27, 1960 R, T, ROMlNE 2,966,014

MACHINE Filed April 24, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 9 z f: E

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Q30 E -r INVENTOR. ROY. T. ROM INE dfi @Png/5 Dec. 27, 1960 R. T. ROMINE. 2,966,014

. MACHINE:

Filed April 24. 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 o o o l Q G 47 3e r l 40 l INVENToR. :LTI- 51. 4 ROY.T.R0M|NE Dec. 27, 1960 R. T. RoMxNE 2,966,014

MACHINE Filed April 24. 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ROY. T. RoMlNE F. 5 l i @WwkmZ/,Mw ,4M

uited States Patent continental Corporation, Wheelabrator Division, Mishawaka, Ind., a' corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 730,705

7 Claims. (Cl. 51-164) This invention relates in general to an improved barrel nishing machine and, more particularly, to a mechanism for effecting rotative movement (oscillation or rotation) and controlling the rotative movement of the finishing barrel of said machine.

The conventional barrel -nishing machine is comprised of a frame upon which a barrel is supported for rotative movement at a slow speed around a substantially horizontal axis, which preferably coincides with the centerline of the barrel. The drive mechanisms presently used to rotate the finishing barrel usually include an electric motor coupled to a gear box, which is connected to the drive shaft of the finishing barrel by means of sprockets and one or more chains. A braking device is generally associated with the motor for the purpose of stopping the drive mechanism when the access door of the barrel is in a convenient position, Such drive mechanisms tend to chatter and thereby create vibrations in the finishing machine, particularly while the mechanism is being started or stopped.

It was concluded after extensive study and tests that such chattering and vibrations have been largely due to the fact that both the gear box and brake device on existing machines are usually separated from the barrel drive shaft by substantial drive means, consisting usually of sprockets and a chain, as above mentioned. Thus, when the brake, for example, is applied to such existing drive mechanisms, the inertia of the rotating barrel tends to stretch the chain and thereby produce the chattering. In a similar manner, the mechanical advantage of existing, motor driven gear boxes permits the motor to reach full r.p.m. before the barrel can. Thus, stretching and jerking of the belt occurs. The vibrations resulting from the rough starts and stops are not only disturbing, but also produce unnecessary wear in the parts of the machine, such as the bearings supporting the finishing barrel.

In order to minimize the effects of chattering and vibration, it has been customary to provide a barrel finishing machine having a frame structure and a housing which are much heavier and stronger than would otherwise be necessary. However, this has produced top heaviness in the housing structure, difficulty in handling and moving the machine, and unnecessary added costs.

It has been found that the optimum rotational speed of the finishing barrel is between approximately l r.p.m. and approximately 30 r.p.m. Existing drive mechanisms often use a slow speed motor connected to a gear box to produce this desired, slow rotation of the finishing barrel. The slow speed motor tends to reduce somewhat the jerking and vibration which occurs in such existing drive mechanisms. However, it is well-known that a slow speed motor of a given horsepower is heavier, more costly, and less eflicient than a high speed motor capable of developing the same horsepower. Further, slow speed motors do not meet the standards desired by industry as well as the usual 1750 r.p.m. motors.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention has been the provision of an improved mechanism for rotat- 2 ing the barrel of a barrel finishing machine whereby the rotation of the barrel can be started, maintained, and stopped without any appreciable chattering or vibration in the drive mechanism or the machine. v

A further object of this invention has been the provi sion of a drive mechanism for a barrel finishing machine, as aforesaid, which permits the use of a much less ruggedl and less costlgl frame structure and housing for the ma-y chine, and wherein the rotational speed of the barrel can be varied easily and accurately over a wide range Awith-y out impairing the smooth operation of the machine.

A further object of the invention has been the provision; of a drive mechanism, as aforesaid, wherein a standard,. relatively high speed electric motor, such as one operating.

at 1750 r.p.m. can be utilized in combination with a. pulley and belt system to rotate the finishing barrel of the; machine.

A further object of this invention has been the provision` of a drive mechanism for a barrel finishing machine, as; aforesaid, whereby said machine is less costly to produce and is capable of operating more satisfactorily than previous machines for the same or similar purposes.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of equipment upon reading the following specification and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a barrel finishing machine having a barrel driving mechanism embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a broken sectional view substantially as.

taken along the line lI-ll of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a broken sectional view substantially as taken along the line III-lil of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 2 with the barrel removed.

Figure 5 is a sectional view substantially as taken along the line V--V of Figure 2.

For convenience in description, the terms upper, lou/er, left, right, front and rear, and derivatives thereof, will have reference to the barrel welding machine embodying the invention in its normal position of operation, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The terms inner, outer,7 and derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of said machine and parts thereof. The terms rotation, rotative and the like, when applied to the rotary movement of the finishing barrel, will include rotational movement which is either uni-directional or in reversing directions, arid such reversing rotation may comprise either more or less than complete revolutions, thereby including oscillation.

General description The objects of the invention, including those set forth above, have been met by providing a barrel finishing machine having a housing with a base frame upon which the finishing barrel is rotatably supported for movement about a substantially horizontal axis. The finishing barrel has a pair of coaxial stub shafts secured to, and ex-` tending from, its opposite axial ends by means'of which it is rotatably supported, the stub shaft at the leftward end being the drive shaft. A drive mechanism includes a gear box which is connected to, and at least partially supported upon, the barrel drive shaft externally of said housing. The gear box has an input shaft which is drivingly connected by gears to said barrel drive shaft and is driven 'by means including a pulley and belt system and a rotary power source, all supported upon the base Patented Dec. 27, 1960.

3. l the'rgear box. Al braking device is supported upon said gear box for engagement with one end of the input shaft which extends through both sides of the gear box, in

this particular embodiment.

Detailed construction The barrel finishing machine (Figures 1, 2 and 3) herein selected to illustrate the invention, is comprised of ahousing structure 11 having a substantially rectanguiar base frame 15 upon which the finishing barrel 12 is supported for rotation -around a substantially horizontalaxis, which preferably coincides with theA centerline of. The rotation of said barrel is effected and said barrel'. controlled by the drive mechanism 13 (Figures 3 and` 5), which is supported upon said housing structure 1'1 at one end thereof. A pair of bearing supports 16 and 17 are securedto the opposite ends of said base frame near the` upper edges thereof. A hood 18', which has a pair of encl panels 21 and 22,` a cover panel 23 and a. closure member 19is supported upon said base frame and is a part of the housing structure 11. For further specific details with respect to the housing structure 11, reference is made to the copending application entitled Frame and Housing Construction-for a Barrel Finishing Machine.

Thefinishing barrel 12 (Figure 2) has a pair of spaced, parallel end walls 25 and 26, upon the remote outer'sides of'which are mounted and secured the shafts 27 and 28' whichare coaxial withsaid finishing barrel 12. The left shaft 27, hereinafter referred to as the barrel drive shaft, and the rightshaft 28 are rotatably supported within the bearings 30 and '31, which are supported'upon the bearing' supports 16 and 17, respectively. The shafts 27 and 28' may -b'e braced with respect to the'end walls 25 and 26 by means of the hub structures 32 and 33, respectively. The drive shaft 27 extends through an appropriate opening in the endpanel 21 ofthe hood 18.

The drive mechanism 13 (Figures 3 and 5), which may be at least partially covered by the drive shield 34 (Figure' l), includes a gear box 36 which is rotatably supported upon the drive shaft 27 externally of the end panel 21; The gear box 36 includes an input shaft 37 and an intermediate shaft 38 disposed between said input shaftv and said drive shaft. The axes of the drive shaft 27, input shaft 37 and intermediate shaft 38 preferably lie substantially within the same plane, andeach of these shafts support gears-39 whereby rotation of the input shaft 37 at one selected rotational'speed effects a rotation of the drive shaft 27 at a materially different rotational speed.

In the illustrated modification, the shaft 38 supports a` 42-aresecured, asby welding, to the external surface of therrear Wallr40of the base frame 15 (Figures 3 and 5). A motorrsupport plate 43 is supported in a vertical positionFigures 3-and 5) partially by means of the upper mountingchannel 41 and partially lby means of the.

mounting bars 44 and 45, vwhich are secured to the support plate 43 and the left end wall 46 of the base frame 15, as by welding. A rotary ypower means, such as the motor 47, is supported by means of the bolts 48 uponV the support plate 43,. The motor shaft 49 is parallel and radially'aligned with the outer end of the input shaft 37,V

whichY extends through both sides of the gear housing-36.

The motor shaft 49 is connected'to the-input shaft 37 by-the pulley system 50 including the variable pitch pulley 51 'which is supported upon, and rotatable with, the

motorshaft 49.. A conventional `ixed'pitch pulley SZ-isz 4'; mounted `upon the outer end of the input shaft 37 and connected to the variable pitch pulley 51 by the belt 53. In this particularly embodiment the gears 39 in the gear box 36 are capable of providing a 40:1 ratio between the rotational speed of the input shaft 37 and the rotational speed of the drive shaft .27.. The ratio between the pulleys 51 and 52 varies from approximately 1.5:1 to 4.5. Accordingly, where themotorI 47 is a standard 1750 r.p.m. motorthe rotational speed.y of the barrel 12 can be varied-byy the pulley system 50,v andthe barrel caused to'rotate at speeds between. approximately rl0 and 30 r.p.m. It` will be recognized, however, that this-,recitation of rotational speeds and speed ratios is illustrative only and is not intended to imposevv any'lir'nit'ationsupon the invention. y l e e A screw 56 is rotatably supported by means of the bearing brackets 57 and 58 upon the external surface of the left end wall 46 for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis which is preferably parallel'with said leftend wall and directly below the gear box 36. A hand wheel'59 is secured to the frontend of the screw 56 for manually rotating same. A block 61 is threadedly engaged by, and supported upon, the screw 56 between said bearing brackets 57 and 58.*V A link bar 62 has one end pivotally supported by means of the ears 63 and pivot pin 64 upon the lower end of the gear box 36. The otherV end of the link bar l62 is pivotally supported upon the block 61. Accordingly, rotational movement of the screw S6 effects movement of the block 61 therealong, thereby effecting a pivotal movement ofthe gear box 36 around the drive shaft 27 on whichsaid housing is rotatablyv supported. Thus, the pitch of the pulley I51 canV be varied by rotating the screw 56, which lcauses the input shaft37Y to move with respect to the axis of the variable pitch pulley 51. y

AV brake 66 (Figures 2 and 4)` is supported uponl the inner side of the gear box 36 for engagement withthel inner end of the input shaft-37, in this particular embodiment. The brake 66 may-be of anyl remotely controllable 4type including a magnetic brake, a hydraulic brake or the like. Furthermore, it will become apparent that said brake 66, insofar as itsfoperation in the invention is concerned, can be alternatively engaged with the outer end of input shaft 37. y However, in the interest of reducing the space requirements of the entire drive mechanismA 13, said brake'66-ispreferably mounted upon the inward end of the input shaft 37 and extendsthrough an opening 67 in the end Wall 46 `into the zone within the housing' structure 11 belowthe bearing V,support 16; It will-also be apparent-that the brake 66 can, if desired, beeassociated with the drive shaft 27,- simply by yincreasingthe length thereof to accommodate said brake-66. A barrelv rotation indicator 68` and a control panel 69, of any convenient type, are mounted uponV the-left end-ofthe housing structure 11V forv substantially conventional reasons.

Operation Referring particularly to FiguresfS andiS, itwill be seen that Ithe gear box 36 andthev gears Y39 therein, whichV produce practically all of thereduction-in; speed 'between the motor 47 and the drive shaft 27, are'supportedgdirectly -upon the drive shaft 27. Furthermore, thedrive shaft 27 is positively driven by the input shaft 37 'through theY gear-S39 disposed within the gearbox 36. Accordingly,

there is little or no chance that chattering will" occur in As stated hereinabove, the pulley system 50 (Figures 3 and 5) is arranged so that the input shaft 37 rotates at from between approximately one halfvto approximately two thirds of the speed of the motor 47, which is a substantially standard 1750 r.p.rn. motor. The remainder of the reduction between the motor speed and the barrel speed is provided by the gears 39 in the gear box 36. In this particular embodiment, the combined reduction produced -by the gear :box 36 and the pulley system 50 provide barrel speeds ranging from approximately r.p.m. to approximately 30 r.p.m.

Upon energization of the motor 47, as by means of operating a switch on the control panel 69, the barrel 12 begins to rotate in response to rotation of the motor 47. Due to the fact that the motor speed must build up through a relatively long range, as from zero to -approximately 1750 r.p.m., the initial movement of the finishing barrel 12 effected by the motor 47 will be relatively slow. Thus, because of the high mechanical advantage provided by the reduction gears in the gear box 36, both the motor 47 and pulley system 50, including the pulleys 51 and 52 and the belt 53, will be under a relatively small load, as the rotation of the finishing barrel 12 commences. Accordingly, starting of the motor 47 and rotation of the barrel 12 will not produce any appreciable chattering or vibration in the drive mechanism 13. lf, after the barrel 12 is rotating, it becomes desirable to change the speed of rotation thereof, such can be accomplished very easily by turning the hand wheel 59, hence the screw 56, in the appropriate direction. In this particular embodiment, rotation of the screw 56 effecting a forward movement of the block 61 increases the ratio of the pulley system 50 and thereby produces a reduction in the rotational speed of the finishing barrel 12. Obviously, a reverse rotation of the screw 56 will produce an increase in the rotational speed of the finishing barrel 12.

If and when it becomes desirable to stop the rotation of the finishing barrel 12, the motor 47 is first de-energized after which the brake 66 is caused to engage the input shaft 37 and thereby oppose the further rotation of the gears 39 within the gear box 36. Because of the positive geared connection between the input shaft 37 and the drive shaft 27, such braking of the input shaft 37 will immediately result in a retarding of the rotation of the finishing barrel 12. The gear box 36 is prevented from rotating with respect to the drive shaft 27, when the brake 66 is operated, by means of the linkage connecting said gear box to the screw 56. Because of the direct gear connection between the input shaft 37 and the drive shaft 27, the retarding of the finishing barrel will be smooth and without vibration or chattering.

As indicated above, the brake 66 overcomes the tendency of the finishing barrel 12 to continue rotating after the motor 47 is de-energized. Such residual rotation would be very disadvantageous particularly where it is desired to oscillate or rotate the finishing barrel around its rotational axis in alternating directions. Furthermore, said brake permits the stopping of the barrel in a preselected position so that its access door is in a convenient location.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed above in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that modifications or variations of such disclosure, which do not depart from the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

I claim:

l. A drive mechanism for a barrel finishing machine having a barrel with a substantially horizontal drive shaft extending from one end thereof, comprising in combination: means including a base frame rotatably supporting said barrel for movement about the axis of said drive shaft; power source means including a shaft rotatably supported upon said base frame at a point thereon spaced from said drive shaft; a gear `box having an input shaft and an output shaft and having a relatively high speed ratio therebetween, said output shaft being positively connected to and for rotation with said drive shaft, and said input shaft being radially spaced from said output shaft parallel therewith and substantially parallel with said power source shaft; adjustable linkage supported up'on said base frame and connected to said gear box for moving said input shaft pivotally around said output shaft and thereby moving said input shaft toward and away fromv said power source shaft, belt and pulley means connecting said power source shaft and said input shaft drivingly together and said belt and pulley means including means for varying the speed ratio between said power source shaft and said input shaft in response to movements of said two last named shafts toward and away from each other, the ratios between said last named shafts throughout the entire range of ratio changes thereby effected being at all times materially less than the ratio existing between the input shaft and output shaft of said gear box.

2. The structure of claim 1 including brake means mounted upon said gear box and engageable with one of said drive shaft and said input shaft for opposing rotation of said barrel with respect to said gear box.

3. In a barrel finishing machine having a base frame rotatably supporting a barrel coaxially connected to a drive shaft, mechanism for controlling the rotation of said barrel comprising: an irl-line gear box rotatably supported upon said drive shaft and having an input shaft parallel with said drive shaft and drivingly connected thereto; adjustment means including a screw rotatably supported upon said base frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis transverse of said drive shaft; linkage pivotally secured to said gear box and rotatably engaged by said screw, rotation of said screw effecting movement of said input shaft around said drive shaft; rotary drive means supported upon said base frame; means drivingly connecting said rotary drive means to said input shaft, the rotational speed of said input shaft being controlled by the distance between said input shaft and said rotary drive means; and brake means mounted upon said gear box and engageable with said input shaft for opposing rotation of said input shaft with respect to said gear box.

4. In a machine having a base frame and a substantially horizontal drive shaft rotatably supported thereon, mechanism for controlling the rotation of said drive shaft comprising: a gear box rotatably supported upon said drive shaft said gear box including an input shaft and a plurality of gears drivingly connecting said input shaft to said drive shaft; the axes of said gears being substantially parallel; a screw supported upon said base frame for rotation about an axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of said drive shaft; linkage pivotally secured to said housing at one end and threadcdly engaged by said screw at the other end, rotation of said screw effecting movement of said input shaft around said drive shaft; rotary power means supported upon said base frame; and variable speed drive means connecting said rotary power means to said input shaft, the rotational speed of said drive shaft being dependent at least in part upon the centerline distance between the input shaft and the rotary power means.

`5. The structure of claim 4 wherein said gears are secured upon three shafts, including said drive shaft and said input shaft, the axes of which lie within a single plane, said screw has a substantially horizontal axis disposed below said input shaft, and said variable speed drive means includes pulleys on said rotary drive means and said input shaft interconnected by a belt, one of said pulleys having a variable pitch.

6. The structure of claim 4 wherein said input shaft extends through both sides of said gear box, and one 7 8' endofsaidinput shaft is engaged by'one oflsaid pulleys;.Y barrel being' engaged by, and rotatably supported upon, and wherein a brakingdevice is mounted upon said gear a stub shaft coaxial with said drive shaft.

box adjacent to the other end ofsaid input shaft for References Cited inthe le of this atent selectable engagement therewlth; whereby rotation of said p drive shaft is positively opposed. 5'- UNITED STATES PATENTS 7-. The structure of claim 4 =wherein said machine in- 2,099,121y Kivley Nov. 16, 1937 cludes a barrel coaxially connected at one end to saidr 2;118,227V Ransohoi May 24, 1938 drive shaft for rotation thereby, the other end of said 2,642,392 Sommers June 16, 1953 

